RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
55 
the sword it threw its head in another direction to avert the blow; 
it then began gradually to creep out of the bag, and went through 
the motions of a snake in a very natural manner, though it appeared 
to be rather full in the belly ; opening and shutting its mouth, which 
I suspect was the performer’s two hands, in the most natural manner 
imaginable. The length of the creature was spun out to about 
fourteen feet; and the colour and action w T ere well represented by 
a covering of painted cloth, imitating that of the boa. After fol- 
lowing the manager round the park for some time, and attempting 
to bite him, which he averted by a wave of the sword, a sign was 
made for the body of actors to come up ; when the manager ap- 
proaching the tail, made flourishes with his sword as if hacking at 
that part of the body. The snake gasped, twisted up, and seemed 
as if in great torture ; and when nearly dead, it was shouldered by 
the masqued actors, still gasping and making attempts to bite, but 
was carried off in triumph to the fetish house. 
The third act consisted of the white devil. The actors having 
retired to some distance in the back ground, one of them was left 
in the centre, whose sack falling gradually down, exposed a white 
head, at which all the crowd gave a shout, that rent the air ; they 
appeared indeed to enjoy this sight, as the perfection of the actor’s 
art. The whole body was at last cleared of the incumbrance of 
the sack, when it exhibited the appearance of a human figure 
cast in white wax, of the middle size, miserably thin, and starved 
with cold. It frequently went through the motion of taking snuff, 
and rubbing its hands ; when it walked, it was with the most 
awkward gait, treading as the most tender-footed white man would 
do in walking bare-footed, for the first time, over new frozen 
ground. The spectators often appealed to us, as to the excellence 
of the performance, and entreated I would look and be attentive 
to what was going on. I pretended to be fully as much pleased 
with this caricature of a white man as they could be, and certainly 
